Instagram dad lets daughter, 7, give him a tattoo

Would you ever let your child give you a tattoo? At least one father did: Mike Worthington of Dallas, Texas, who not only had his daughter’s handwriting and artwork tattooed on his already inked body but allowed her to sign her own name with the tattoo pen too.

Worthington — whose icemikeloveasia Instagram page went viral last year after the single dad posted adorable beauty shoots of the hairstyles he created for his little girl — posted photos and videos of the unique moment, to rave reviews. His first post, which has accrued more than 90K likes, includes photos of 7-year-old Asia tattooing her dad, a video of her writing her name on her dad’s body with a marker, and a photo of the final product — kid scribble, misspelled words, and backward Ds in “dad” included.

A second post, this one with more than 50K likes, consists of videos in which Asia is actually tattooing her dad’s bod with the help of a professional. In the footage, the little girl can be seen learning how to use the tattoo pen and giggling as she works. By the end of the session, she’s holding the tool on her own, having become a “real tattoo artist” after learning how to ink her dad, just as her dad had learned to style his daughter’s hair.

“Asia loves art,” Worthington tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “She’s developing a love for art, I noticed. She always writes me cute notes. She often writes the same notes over and over. So I decided to let her tattoo the note she often writes.”

That note reads, verbatim: “I LoVe YoU. i.m aways going to Love You your the Best DaD evre I Love You Dad -asia.”

Asia, 7, signed her dad’s tattoo. (Photo: Instagram/icemikeloveasia)

Worthington points about that Asia didn’t do the entire tattoo herself, since that would’ve been risky. “It is her actual note and handwriting” inked onto his skin by a pro, he says. “I let her tattoo/sign her name at the end of the session — that part she did tattoo, with the help of my artist.” Laughing, he admits that he and his daughter were both nervous but that “after the second letter, we were fine.”

While this is the only tattoo that Asia has contributed her skills to so far, Worthington’s body is almost completely inked with art inspired by his daughter. “My whole body is dedicated to the love I have for her,” he says.

While not all parents trust their children enough to let them near a tattoo pen, Worthington isn’t the first to let a child act as a tattoo designer.

A parent’s tattoo in the handwriting of family members. (Photo: Jess Koala)

“I get a lot of people coming in and wanting tattoos to honor their loved ones,” Koala tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “Recently, I had a client get the word ‘grow,’ each letter written by a different member of her family to represent the part each has played in her development as a person.” While tattooing handwritten notes by parents or grandparents is even more common, there has been a recent uptick in people getting inked with their kids’ handwriting and drawings. It’s something celebs do too: David Beckham tattooed a stick figure his daughter Harper drew onto his palm, and Taye Diggs has “I LOVE DADDY” in his son Walker’s handwriting on his arm.

“It is such a sweet sentiment and always an honor to do,” Koala says. “Hearing how excited the children get [when they] see and show off their art is pretty great.”